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Cesare Paola
In Biggles and the Poor Rich Boy, Cesare Paola was an American gangster and the kidnapper of Carlo Salvatore. Cesare, his brother Antonio, and Carlo's father Rosario Salvatore were three friends who came from the same village in Sicily. In their youth, all three saved enough money and decided to go off to seek new opportunities in the United States. Cesare and Antonio decided to turn to a life of crime and joined a criminal gang. Rosario prefered the straight path and subsequently became one of the richest men in the country. When Antonio and Cesare were arrested for the murder of a policeman, they appealed to Rosario for help but he refused to have anything to do with them. Antonio, who had actually fired the shot was subsequently executed. Cesare was jailed for ten years and never forgave Rosario for abandoning them. His jail term was extended for attempting to escape but he was eventually freed and plotted his revenge. Cesare teamed up with two other gangsters, the Viper and Mack, with the intention of sharing in the ransom money for the kidnap. The kidnapping itself was cleverly done. Carlo was fishing in a boat on a private lake. A small amphibian aircraft landed on it. Carlo, who had an avid interest in aviation, was invited on board and the aircraft took off. Although Carlo was heavily guarded, the precautions had neglected the third dimension. The aircraft was probably piloted by Cesare although the text does not make it clear. Subsequently, Cesare double-crossed his partners. With Carlo, they crossed into Canada and then flew to London under the assumed names of Arturo and Giovanni Cornelli. From London, they travelled to Scotland where they stayed for a time at the Richmond Arms in Tomintoul where Carlo, not even realising that he had been kidnapped, was able to indulge in his favourite hobby of fishing. Cesare's gangster ex-partners and the British police both managed to track Cesare to Tomintoul but his pursuers missed them by minutes. Cesare had checked out of the hotel and had gone elsewhere either because the fishing was not good, or because he had become spooked when calls were made to the hotel asking for him. From Tomintoul, Cesare was able to lay a false trail by buying air tickets from Inverness to London but never boarding the aircraft. Instead, he took Carlo up to Loch Ness where they fished on the Loch. Again, he narrowly avoided his pursuers and took Carlo to some lodgings along the Spey. Here he left Carlo and proceeded to London. It appeared that he had a change of heart. Whereas his earlier intention was simply to torment Rosario by abducting Carlo, he must have thought that he could not keep this up forever, what with the Viper and police pursuing him. At some point he probably arranged to meet Rosario to negotiate a ransom and this explained Rosario's sudden arrival in London. But the Viper had noted Rosario's arrival in London also and deduced his purpose. By calling on Rosario and using his gun as the ultimate argument, the Viper extracted from him the fact that Cesare was staying at the Grosvenor Hotel in Victoria. By cajoling and arguing with the counter clerk, the Viper and Mack persuaded the hotel to have someone take them up to Cesare's room. However the counter clerk also called the room to tell Cesare that visitors were coming up. Cesare escaped and subsequently boarded a train with a ticket to Inverness. By coincidence, the Viper and Mack also took tickets on the same train, each not knowing about the other. Cesare stepped off the train at Newtonmore, several stops before Inverness but then discovered that he had lost Carlo. Carlo had been befriended by Major Grey during his absence and had invited him to fish along the Tromie River. Cesare, still pursued by the Viper and by Biggles and American policeman Eddie Ross began a frantic search for Carlo. Pursuers and pursued finally came together on the banks of the Tromie. In the gun inevitable gun battle, Cesare killed the Viper and was himself killed by Mack. Carlo was oblivious to all this--he had fallen into the river while angling a large fish and had almost drowned. Biggles and his friends were preoccupied with rescuing him and were content to let the criminals fight it out among themselves. Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Air Police era characters